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AirAsia Group slams brakes on new ventures for 3 years

AirAsia Group will not get involved in any new ventures for the next three years, Group CEO Tony Fernandes said in a Twitter post.

"As 2019 approaches, I would like to confirm that AirAsia will not be opening up any more new airlines for the next 3 years. After Vietnam, we will focus on what we have. Focus this year is to make Indonesia and Philippines very profitable," Fernandes wrote.

The LCC group signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Thien Minh Travel Joint Stock Company (TMG) and Hai Au Aviation Joint Stock Company (HAA) regarding the launch of its newest, and for now last, unit AirAsia Vietnam (Da Nang) on December 6.

He then blamed public subsidies for competitors as one of the biggest problems for the long-haul low-cost AirAsia X family of airlines. The Indonesian unit is planning to exit scheduled operations in mid-January after terminating its last remaining route, Denpasar-Tokyo Narita, set to end on January 14, 2019. The carrier's narrowbody fleet was mostly returned to Indonesia AirAsia already.

"We have a great franchise. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Viet Nam. All the major populations and growing economies. Couples with two great countries to enable us to cover the world, India and Japan," Fernandes said.

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